Harmonization of traditional knowledge, biodiversity and IPR to combat biopiracy: a legal perspective
Student name: Ms Aastha Joshi
Guide: Dr M V Shiju
Year of completion: 2016
Host Organisation: Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Be
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr KD Raju and Dr Deepa Dube
Abstract: Biodiversity is the starting point of human existence. It has priceless contribution towards human welfare. Biodiversity rich nation which accommodates huge amount of flora and fauna, accompanies with them Traditional Knowledge or heritage which has been passed from generations to generations and is an integral part of indigenous communities. But with the emergence of modern age biotechnology harmonized with the interest of developed countries towards commercialization of Traditional Knowledge, lead to coming up of new term called “Biopiracyâ€. Inspite of the international legal conventions such as Convention on Biological Diversity, TRIPS and national conventions (India) such as NBA and Indian Forest Act , exploitation of developing countries by developed countries is still ongoing Therefore this research mainly focusses in coming up with a policy framework which is specifically dedicated towards conservation of Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity and also discusses the amendments or modifications in the existing legal framework that can be done for conservation of Traditional Knowledge.
Keywords- Traditional Knowledge, Conservation on Biological Diversity, TRIPS, National Biological Authority (NBA), indigenous communities and Indian Forest Act.
